1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle with low ground clearance for use in connection with transporting people and cargo. The vehicle with low ground clearance has particular utility in connection with entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicles with low ground clearance are desirable for less mobile passengers. Such passengers seek out vehicles that permit ready entrance and exit as well as movement within a vehicle. Present day vehicles have a passenger cabin mounted above a chassis and a powertrain. The powertrain transmits power from the engine via shafts to the drive wheels thus, moving the vehicle. Passengers access the cabin by climbing steps typically located by the vehicle driver. Once aboard, passengers walk down a central aisle to one of the upright seats, arranged side-by-side, and spaced apart longitudinally for sufficient legroom. The steps and central aisle of modern vehicles present obstacles to the less mobile passenger.
The use of passenger vehicles is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,369 to Belik at al. discloses a module as a manufactured component of a vehicle. However, the Belik ""369 patent does not have doors on both sides, and has further drawbacks of rear wheel drive propulsion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,354 to Halim discloses a vehicle and a station that allow passengers to recline in compartments transverse to the longitudinal axis of a vehicle. However, the Halim ""354 patent lacks upright seating, and additionally does not have a single deck of seating close to the ground.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 225,985 to Poole discloses a passenger vehicle that has a trapezoidal shape with windows and doors. However, the Poole Des. ""985 patent does not store luggage separately from passengers, and cannot have benches transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,917,396 to Schantz discloses a tractor vehicle body that has a rounded front to assist in pivoting. However, the Schantz ""396 patent does not have separate doors for each bench, and does not have a self-propulsion system.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 84,576 to Fageol et al. discloses a motor vehicle that has benches with doors at each end of a bench. However, the Fageol ""576 patent does not have exterior luggage storage, and cannot have all doors between the axles of the vehicle.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,307 to Cichy discloses a transportation vehicle that has doorsills at two levels. However, the Cichy ""307 patent does not avoid steps, and has the additional deficiencies of a central aisle and doors not at all rows of seats.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a vehicle with low ground clearance that allows entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps. The Belik ""369 patent makes no provision for doors on both sides of a vehicle. The Halim ""354 patent makes no provision for upright seating on one deck. The Poole Des. ""985 and the Fageol Des. ""576 patents do not permit luggage storage. The Schantz ""396 patent lacks separate doors for each bench. The Cichy ""307 patent relies upon steps. Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved vehicle with low ground clearance that can be used for entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the vehicle with low ground clearance according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of passenger vehicles now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved vehicle with low ground clearance, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved vehicle with low ground clearance and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a vehicle with low ground clearance which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a cab, a cabin, and a carrier upon a chassis. The cab has a front, mutually parallel sides behind the front, a roof, a windshield on the front, an engine, a driver""s seat by the engine, and a pair of opposite driver doors on each side. In line with and behind the cab, the cabin transports passengers. The cabin has mutually parallel walls, two or more parallel benches across the width of the vehicle, and doors at each end of the benches. The doors have windows, while the benches divide the cabin. Behind the cabin and at the opposite end of the vehicle from the cab, the carrier transports luggage and cargo. The cabin has three compartments stacked upon each other extending across the width of the vehicle and the length of the carrier, three pairs of hatches parallel to the length of the vehicle and in the same plane as the doors, a handle for each hatch, and a fuel tank beneath the compartments. The chassis has a generally rectangular shape, a pair of front wheels connected to a transaxle powered by the engine mounted upon the chassis beneath the cab, and two pairs of rear wheels in tandem upon the chassis beneath the carrier. The front wheels and the rear wheels are parallel with the length of the vehicle. The chassis supports the cab, the cabin and the carrier, whereby the vehicle has a low ground clearance for ready passenger ingress and egress through the doors.
Further, each bench has a door at each end to permit access at both ends of a bench. Passengers pass through the doors and occupy the benches without walking upon a central aisle. There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include no more than an eight inch clearance above the ground, front wheel drive without a powertrain to the rear wheels, upright seating of passengers upon the benches, doors that pivot about axis closer to the cab and that have windows, doors that move as a group upon command by the driver, and a heating ventilating and air conditioning unit upon the roof of the vehicle. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vehicle with low ground clearance that has all of the advantages of the prior art passenger vehicles and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vehicle with low ground clearance that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved vehicle with low ground clearance that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such vehicle with low ground clearance economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new vehicle with low ground clearance that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle with low ground clearance for entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps. This allows eight inches or less between the ground and the vehicle.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle with low ground clearance for entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps. This makes it possible to enter and to exit a vehicle with a minimum of assistance from the driver.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle with low ground clearance for entering and exiting a vehicle without using steps. This makes it possible to reach a seat without walking down a center aisle within a vehicle.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of reducing ground clearance of a vehicle by installing an engine and transaxle upon a chassis to power the front wheels, lowering the floor between the cab and the cabin, placing benches across the width of the cabin and parallel to each other, and, pivoting doors, at the ends of each of the benches, in groups.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.